UK riots: Calm creeps back in West Midlands

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UK riots: Calm creeps back in West Midlands

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Calm returned to West Midlands streets after disorder as more than 1,000 cops were in Birmingham.

11 August,2011 07:39 pm

About 250 people attended a peaceful vigil on Dudley Road in Winson Green in memory of the three men fatally hit by a car as they protected property.Pakistani expatriates Haroon Jahan, 21, Shahzad Ali, 30, and Abdul Musavir, 31, died. A man aged 32 has been held on suspicion of murder.West Midlands Police has been granted a 12-hour extension, until 12:00 BST on Thursday, to question him.Solihull Magistrates Court sat all night to deal with people charged with disturbances and five were jailed.It dealt with people charged mostly with violent disorder and burglary.By midnight 24 had appeared in court, 18 of them adults and six youths.One 16-year-old youth, from West Bromwich, was charged with violent disorder and arson.Haroon Jahan, Shahzad Ali and Abdul Musavir died after being hit by a car during Tuesdays disorder. There were 31 arrests between 15:00 BST on Wednesday and 03:00 BST on Thursday and about 330 have been arrested in total across the West Midlands since disorder started.More than 50 people have so far been charged across the West Midlands area, police said.A crowd gathered near the scene of the suspected hit-and-run incident, which happened as the three men guarded property along with a crowd of 80 or so people on Tuesday night.There were prayers at a petrol station forecourt on Wednesday night as a candlelit vigil was held after their deaths.The father of one of those who died has appealed for calm.Flowers were taken to the scene of the incident. Tariq Jahan, who said communities should be united, stood in the middle of a semi-circle of well-wishers as they lit candles.